Landscape Plant Identification Tips by Category

NURSERY/LANDSCAPE PLANT ID TIPS SORTED BY CATEGORY This is a free resource provided by Georgia Agricultural Education Original creator: Melissa Riley, Central Region Horticulture Teacher

GROUND COVERS & VINES

AJUGA (CARPET BUGLE) Ground cover, less than 1 foot tall Leaves look like false dandelion Tight dense growth-herbaceous Flowers usually blue-purple Leaves purple to bronze

CAST IRON PLANT Evergreen shrub or clump Parallel venation Each leaf is on a single stem Large, glossy leaves that can be solid green, speckled or variegated

ENGLISH IVY Evergreen Vine or Trailing Groundcover Woody stems on older growth Three-lobed/starlike shaped leaf Can be variegated

CONFEDERATE JASMINE Evergreen vine Star flowers Leaves opposite and have a thick, fleshy texture Woody stems, dark brown to reddish in color Produce long, narrow seed pods

BLUE RUG JUNIPER Evergreen groundcover Soft needles, not spikey like shore Fine, scale-like needles with a bluish- silver color that can turn purple in cold weather Needles have an upright growth pattern, but the plant does not get over 1 foot tall

SHORE JUNIPER Evergreen groundcover blue-green, awl-shaped, prickly needles / not flat like blue rug White tips to the leaves

ANDORRA JUNIPER Evergreen groundcover fine, soft, gray-green foliage that often takes on a plum-purple hue in the winter months Out and up growth pattern about 18 tall

PACHYSANDRA Evergreen groundcover Whorled leaflets Scalloped or Serrated at the ends of leaf Grows 8-12" high Flowers are small, white, and in 1-2 inch spikes

SEDUM Small growing perennial Come in a variety of colors and sizes Most varieties are low growing and spreading Have rounded succulent leaves Leaves are opposite Most flowers but flowers also range in size and color

VINCA (PERIWINKLE) low-growing, trailing evergreen vine opposite leaves that can be solid green or variegated Smooth margins and often features a white midrib Bluish/purple or white 5 petal flowers

WINTERCREEPER evergreen to semi-evergreen mounding vine Opposite, serrated leaves Often roots form at nodes Can be multiple colors Wooden stem, older growth bark like appearance

NOW LETS COMPARE SHORE JUNIPER BLUE RUG JUNIPER ANDORRA JUNIPER Needles blue/ green Spikey needles with an awl (circular) shape Grow slightly up and then spreads out Shorter then Andorra but taller than Blue Rug Needles blue/green color Flat soft needles that spread Shortest of all 3 Needles gray/green (turn purple in fall) Soft needles, not flat, grow upward Tallest of all 3

NOW LETS COMPARE VINCA CONFEDERATE JASMINE Opposite Solid green leaf Smooth edges Thick, fleshy (leathery) feeling leaf Woody slender stem White flowers WINTER CREEPER Opposite Solid green or variegated Serrated edges Woody, bark like stem can often see roots Non-showy flowers Opposite Solid green or variegated Smooth edges Soft, thin leaf White midrib Soft green stem Blue/ purple flowers most common

NOW LETS COMPARE PACHYSANDRA AJUGA Tight, dense growth Leaves purple to bronze or variegated Soft leaf Leaves opposite Whirled leaf pattern Scalloped or serrated at the ends Solid green Thicker leaf